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M RS WINNIFRED STRACHAN,
59, Leader of the Opposition
Sin the Grenada House of Rep-
resentatives, began a teaching
career in 1945 at the age of 15.

"I had got to the top form at School", she
said in a recent interview with NEWS-
LETTER "and the Principal asked me to
take a temporary job as they were short of
teachers."

That school was the St Andrev's Senior
Primary School. Born in St Andrew's
Parish, Mrs Strachan first attended the
Junior Primary School there before grad-
uating to the Senior, and her temporary job
lasted just one year.
Succssfully Recommended

ing at the Birch Grove School for a short
while before being transferred as a tutor to
Government's Domestic Arts Institute in St
George's.

"From this position I was transferred
and promoted to the Ministry of
Education," she said, "where I was
made Supervisor of Home Economics
& School Feeding with responsibility
for the entire State."

In the mid-1970s, Mrs Strachan was
appointed to the panel established by the
Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
Council of Education Ministers to prepare
the Home Economics syllabus for the
Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC).

Satisfied with her performance, the School Mrs Strachan is the founder of the non-
Authorities succss- governmental Grenada
fully recommended T[]E ENT0 M@@UE F N[E Home Economics As-
her for a sociation, an
scholar- rTHE WfAMABA liEWALETTIE organisation
ship to tA devoted to
ernment's "Intendig WO[ L PU 5fLl) on-going trainingof teach-
Teacher's Training ers, and, until her retire-
Course." That course, i m ent from Government
held at St Joseph's Convent D[ JUNI service in 1983 vas a member and
Secondary School in St George's, first Vice-President of the Carib-
lasted twro years and convinced her that bean Home Economics Association.
teaching vas to be her role in life. Unsuccessfully Contested

Returning to St Andrew's Senior Primary
School, she gave ten years of service before
undertaking two years of training at Erdis-
ton Teachers' College in Barbados, graduat-
ing in 196 1.

Returning to Grenada, Mrs Strachan was
posted as Principal of the Home Economics
Section of the Birch Grove Roman Catholic
Primary School, a position she left in 1964
to study at Bath College of Bristol Uni-
versity in the United Kingdom.

Securing the Certificate of Education and
qualifying in Home Economics at Bath, Mrs
Strachanreturned to Grenadain 1967, teach-

Her retirement marked her entry into the
political field and she unsuccessfully contest-
ed the 1984 General Elections on the ticket
of Sir Eric Gairy's Grenada United Labour
Party (GULP).

Cocntestirng again on that ticket in this year's
General Elections, she won her seat for the
Constituency of St Andrew's South East and
created history vhen she was appointed by
Governor General Sir Paul Scoon to be the
first woman to hold the post of Leader of
the Opposition in the House of Represent-
atives.

Queried as to her reaction to the
Please See STRACHAN Page 9

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The Grenada Nevsletter Saturday 24th April 1990 Page 9

ECCB

REPORT

ON GRENADA
Over the p ost three yeWrs, Grensda's Ve nomy
has recorded an average growtFh ra-t of 5-.6%

T TOURISM AND CONSTRUC-
tion were the main sectors
which fueled the economic
growth rate in Grenada over the
period January to September 1989.

STRACHAN From Page 8
unfavorable public image given Sir
Eric by both the Field (1961) and
Duffus (1974) Commissions of Inquiry
in Sir Eric's Administrations, Mrs.
Strachan said all politicians are subject
to criticisms and Sir Eric "has h-ad his
fair share."
"Nevertheless," she said, "my associa-
tion with the GULP is evidence of the
fact that Grenada must move ahead and
ve must now all look to the future
rather than to the past."
Did Not Have Time
Mrs Strachan was queried also relative
to the 1990 Budget recently introduced
into the House by the Minister of
Finance, Mr George Brizan. Fo1iloing
so soon after the Elections, Mrs
Strachan said, Government did. not have
time to prepare a "detailed progressive
budget': and she accepted Mr Brizan's
statement that this is a "holding budget".
She noted, however, that, in his Budget
Speech, Mr Brizan had made many
promises and she said the Opposition
will be watching to see whether the
Minister of Finance will "put his money
where his mouth is."
Mrs Strachan hopes her success at the
polls and her appointment as Leader of
the Opposition will be an encourage-
ment to other Grenadian women to step
forward and play their full parts in the
development of their homeland.
. . Is u l l i lli-i o ia-l l uo i

This is disclosed in the recently published
"Economic & Financial Reviev" of the
Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB)
which says preliminary data for the first
three quarters of last year indicates continu-
ed expansion of the economy.
"Grovth in the Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) has been provision-
ally estimated at 53%', the Review
says, "slightly higher than the 4.9%
recorded for the comparable period
in 1988"

Over the past three years, Grenada's
economy has recorded an average growth
rate of 5.6%, but, if this is to be equalled or
exceeded in 1989, the contribution of
Agriculture is expected to be marginal.
Declines In Production
During the period under review, there were
increases in production of nutmegs and
cocoa, but declines in production of bana-
nas and mace reduced the growth of the
overall agricultural output to only 1.5%.
The "Review" characterizes Grenada's
manufacturing sector as "fragile" and says
the main industrial products continue to
fluctuate. Compared with the first nine
months of 1988, there were increases in
production of stout (5.2%), cigarettes
Plee See ECCB Page 10

There were, however, declines in
duction of soft drinks (14.4%),
(27.4%) and wheat bran (4.5%).

pro-
malt

The manufacturing sector grev by 16.5%
in 1987. It fell, however, to 10.3% in
1988 and the growth rate in 1989 has been
provisionally estimated at 12.0%.

This resulted in a visible trade deficit of
EC$137.8, 25.3% above that recorded for
the similar period inl988.

During the review period, th fiscal operat-
ions of Government resulted in a current
account deficit of EC$5.9 million, a figure
significantly lover that the EC$18.7 million
recorded for the corresponding period in
1988.

15?. growth and this was maintained during
the period under review with building
permits for commercial and joint resident-
ialcormmercial purposes increasing by
14.6% and 75% respectively.
This May Be Evidence
However, permits for private residential
and for industrial purposes both declined.
According to the "Review" this resulted in
an overall 2.5% reduction in the grant of
building permits over the first nine months
of 1989. This may be evidence of a future
decline in the Construction Sector, the
"Review" says.

Along with Construction, Grenada's
economic growth during the review
period was due to the creditable per-
formance of Tourism-

The two sectors, Hotel & Restaurants and
Transport & Communications grew, res-
pectively, by 6% and 8.6% despite a 4.4%
fall in total tourist arrivals due to a fall in
cruse ship visitors (11.9%) and excursion-
ists (4.2%)

Says the "Review", "Stay over visitors,
noted for their greater impact on economic
activity, increased byll.6% to 52,718, to
account for 36.9% of the total visitors".

Over the review period, the balance of
visible trade widened. Compared with the
corresponding period in 1988, payments
for imports increased by 8.5% to EC$192.3
million while earnings from exports
declined by 19.9% to EC$54.5 million.

September 1988, EC$26.4 million had been
collected in non-tax revenue. This amount,
however, includes EC$17.5 million collect-
ed from the sale of Government shares in
The Grenada Telephone Company
Adverse Trade Balance
The impact of the adverse trade balance on
the current account was softened by in-
creased foreign exchange received from
Tourism. Those receipts, estimated at
EC$63.6, were 9.5% higher than in the
corresponding 1988 period.

The "Reviev" says economic
indicators for the third quarter of
1989 point to a continued slowing of
the pace of economic activity in the
Organisation of East Caribbean
States.

The slow-down in output growth was
hastened by the effects of Hurricane
Hugo vhich viped out 70% of Dom-
inica's banana crop and caused extens-
ive damage to property, infra-
structure and crops in Montserrat, St
Kitts/Nevis and Antigua.

Hurricane Hugo hit the islands on
September 17th 1989, and the
"Reviev" says the impact of this
disaster vill be more evident from
the 1989 fourth quarter data.

...mmam n Ers

I I

The Grenada Newsletter Saturday 24th April 1990 Page 11

LINEWS SHORTS

GEF Hosts Employers
Round Table

The Grenada Employers Federation is
currently hosting the Fifth Round Table
For Caribbean Employers which opened on
April 23rd.

Sponsored by the International Labour
Organisation (ILO), the Round Table is
under the direction of Mr Hans Hanmiar,
Director of the Bureau of the Geneva,
Switzerland based ILO Bureau For Em-
ployers Activities.

Mr Hamnmar is being assisted by his Deput,
Mr Federico Garcia Martinez and Mr
Costas Kapartis, Secretary General of the
International Org nisation of Employers is
also present.

Agenda for the Round Table includes
discussion on Wages Reform/Pay, Incentive
Systems and the Social implications of
Structural Adjustment.

Twenty territories are represented at the
Round Table including all the Caribbean
Community countries, Haiti, the British
Virgin Islands, the Cayman islands, Nether-
lands Antilles and Suriname.

Following the Round Table, the 30th
Annual General Meeting of the Caribbean
Employers Confederation, which comes to
an end on April 27th, vill be held.

Bristol Appointed C.J.

Governor General Sir Paul Scoon has
appointed prominent barrister, Mr Carol
Bristol Q. C., to be Chief Justice of the High
Court of Grenada.

Mr Bristol succeeds Sir Samuel Graham
who resigned from the post on 31st March
last.

Mr Bristol's appointment took effect on
12th April 1990 and expires on 31st May
1991.

AIDS Statistics

Thirty-four persons in Grenada are
known to have been infected by the
virus.

nov
HIV

This is disclosed by the Ministry of Health's
Report for the first quarter of 1990. The
Report states that of the 34 HIV positive
persons, 20 developed AIDS and 15 of the
AIDS patients have died.

Fisheries Workshop

A two-veek fisheries Workshop for sixteen
fishermen from Grenada and St Vicent
opened in Grenada on April 24th.

Sponsored by the Fisheries Unit of the
Organisation of East Caribbean States and
the International Centre for Ocean Develp-
rnent, the Workshop is the third phase of a
three-year programme of training.

The. Workshop is under the direction of Mr.
Jim Levey, Director of Training of the
Nova Scotia School of Fisheries.

British Safety-At-Sea
Equipment For Fishermen

Safety-at-sea equipment, valued at
EC$11,500, has been donated to the St.
Mark's Fishermen Co-operative Society by
the British High Commission.

Consisting of aerials, transceivers, marine
compasses and VHF marine radio tele-
phones, the equipment vas donated under
the Heads of Mission Gift Scheme.

Venezuelan Police Training

Three Venezuelan police officers, experts
in the art of self defence, arrived in Gre-
nada on April 22nd for a two veek attach-
ment to the Royal Grenada Police Force.
Please See NEWS SHORTS Page 12

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I.WI CEN RE LIBRARY
scHOOL O COJNTIUING sTUDIES

NOT TO BZ T E
FROM LIBRARY.

Page 12 Saturday 24th April 1990 The Grenada Newsletter

NEWS SHORTS From Page 11

The Venezuelan policemen vill train a new
class of police recruits in the tactics of
unarmed combat and will train with other
interested persons who have martial arts
skills.

OECS Pesticides Boards
Meet

The Pesticides Boards of the countries of
the Organisation of East Caribbean States
vill ineet in Grenada on April 25th.

Theme of the meeting will be "Approaching
Pesticides With Knowledge, Not. Ignor-
ance".

This is the second meeting of the Boards,
the first, meeting having taken place in
Domirica in March 1989. The Grenada
meeting will receive individual country
reports and review the Report of the
Dominica meeting.

Judicial Drug Seminar

Grenada will be represented at a three-day
regional judicial seminar on drug related
issues scheduled to open in Trinidad on
April 3rd.

The seminar is sponsored by the United
States Drug Enforcement Agency, and
Grenada's delegates are Miss Patricia Mark.,
Magistrate of the Southern District and Mr
Rodney Rapier, Crown Council in the
Ministry of Legal Affairs.

Italian Honorary Vice-Consul
Appointed.

With effect from 5th February 1990, and
for a period of one year, Mr Massimo
Gattuso has been appointed Honorary Vice-
Consul of Italy in Grenada vith residence in
St Georges.

Fire Tenders Donated By
Britain

Two fire tenders, valued at approximately y
EC$1 million, have been donated to Gre-
nada by the British Government.

The handing over ceremony took place on
April 10th when Mr Kevin Burns, Barbados
resident British High Commissioner to
Grenada, formally presented the equipment
to Prime Minister Nicholas Brathwaite.

Government Aid For Students

The sum of EC$120,000 has been made
available in the 1990 National Budget to
assist needy students vith books and uni-
forms. The Budget also provides
EC$200, 000 for introduction of a hot meal
progrwame for schools.

Other provisions of the Budget are the sum
of EC 1.9 million for the House Repair
Programme and the sum of EC$650,000 to
enable the monthly allowance to aged and
needy persons to be increased from $20 to
$50.

I "We are in.-, no.h position oft this t tio
determine the- ause of the fire" : P-.T.

S-HE BUILDINGS HOUSING
the Miistry o Fnane, Genea
SPost. Office, Inland Revenue Le-
Spartment, Treasury and Govern-
ment Printery were, on the nigt of Friday
27th April. gutted bv the bi-ggst fir seen in
St George's withinlivuin emory.
The alarm was received at the Fire Station
on the Carenage shortly after 10 30 pm, at
vhich time the fire as confined to the
building housing, on the ground floor, the
P arcel Post Department of the Post Office
and a section of the Inland Revenue Depart-
mAent (See diagram pae 2, Buildi.ng "")
The flames seemed then to be on the first
floor of that building, where -were located.
the offices of the Ministry of Finance aUd.
the Inland Revenue Deparxtment.
FlamesLeant
within an hour, however, Si oke uas. seen
coming from the. top floor Window s of the
buildings housing, respec-tiey o-n the
I round floors, the General Post ;Offic ad
Treasury. S ortly after. flames leapt,
almo:.st simultaneously, throuy., the roofs 'of
those buildings. (See dia.gram pa-,e 2,
Buildi gs "A" and "E")
The fire did not spreaC t he Public
Library across the street from the Treasury
and Ministry of'Finance nor did it touch the

building houstring the Audit Department
ocated.to t rar of the Treasury. It is
reported, however, tht tihe contents of that
building s fferedl considerably from vater
d:anage.
Flev Into Grenada
Prime Mirnister Nicholas Brathwaite vas in
his native Parish, Grenada's sister island of
Carriacul, at the time of the fire, but flew7
IN THIS ISSUE
Ia e

into ,Gres ia at dawn the following day.
In in interview with NEWSLETTER at the
fire site, Mr Brat.haite said that, very
shortly tiht day, he was scheduled to hold
discussion with the Co issioner of
Police, following which there ,as to be an
emergency Cabinet meeting.

Please See FIRE Page 2

IU.WI. CENTRE LIBRARY I v

I I

M

I p

Page 2 Saturday 24th April 1990 The Grenada Newsletter

FIRE From Page 1
Later that day, in a broadcast over Radio
Grenada, the Prime Minister said Cabinet
had received a preliminary report from the
SCoummissioner of Police.

"We are in no position at this time to
determine the cause of the fire." he said.
"Investigations are continuing and. we shall
seek technical assistance from the British
and from tihe USA so that our local Security
Forces will get assistance in ascertaining the

cause of the fire."

Cabinet has identified some places which
might be used to accommodate the
Ministries and Departments whose premises
have been burned out, he said.

The Prine Minister said he had been
heartened by offers of office space on a "no
charge" basis made by Mr Fred Toppin,
Please See FIRE Page 3,

DIAGRAM OF COMPLEX
(Not To Scale)

LEGEND
Building Floor Housing

A Ground General Post Office
First Ministry Of Finance
Second Ministry Of Finance

Additionally, he said, some public buildings
have been identified as -possible sites for
offices. These include Mt. Royal, the
unoccupied official residence of the Prime
Minister and the lower floor of the Public
Library vhich may be used to house the
Post Office.
Certain Claims For Back-Pay
Another priority is establishment of the
Treasury, Mr Brathwaite said, especially as
there are certain claims for back-pay due to
have been paid to Civil Servants on IMonday
30th April.

"We are not too sure we vill be able
to meet that deadline," he said, "but I
vant those people to knov that this
Government is doing everything poss-
ible to make sure they villa be paid in
the shortest possible time."

The Prime Minister said he could give no
Estimate of the loss occasioned by the fire,
but a sub-committee of t-chnical officers of

-M TRNT,
Grenadians had not yet recovered from the
festivities of a Christmas, tw7o hundred and
nineteen years ago, when disaster struck.

It was on the 27th December 1771 that the
dreaded cry of "fire !" rang out. Residents
of St George's rushed to fight the blaze z7ith
the limited facilities at their disposal, but it
was a losing fight.

St Georg's was then comprised entirely oi
wooden buildings and the fire completely
destroyed the town.

However, the "fire demon" v.tas not yet
through. Less then four years later, on
November 1st 1775, the flames again swept
through St George's, leaping from street to
street and razing the greater part of the
town.

As a consequence, an Act was passed requir-
ing that all buildings in the town be b1i!t of
brick or stone and covered 'ith tiles.

the Ministry of Communications & Works
and. the Ministry of Finance has been set up
to look into this.

This sub-committee; he said, has been
charged. with responsibility for ascertaining
the level of the loss and indicating the kind
of immediate and long-term assistance
Grenada vill need.

The United States Charge d'Affaires,
Mr Ford Cooper, had already been in
touch with him, the Prime Minister
said, and reports of that sub-
committee are to be submitted to Mr.
Cooper for transmission to Washing-
ton-
Assistance Is To Be Sought
In addition, Mr Brathvaite said, assistance
is to be sought from several countries in-
cluding the United Kingdom, the European
Economic Commnity, Canada, Taivan,
Japan and South Korea.

The fire cannot be regarded only as a loss to
Government, the Prime Minister said.
Rather it is a loss to the people of Grenada.,
he said, and he asked Grenadians to remain
calm in the face of the crisis.

"Let us have a hope for the future',
he said, "ve vill build from the ashes
of those ruined buildings."

In a three-hour-long-plus presentation to
the House of Representatives, the Minister
painted a bleak picture of Grenada's
"hopeless budgetary situation" which h.is
Government had inherited, and the
"magnitude of the task involved in trying to
turn aroutniJ and almost bankrupt country."

Unpaid claims at. the Treasury amount to'
EC$7 million, he said, arrears of contri-
butionrs to regional and international insti-
tutiors stand at EC$8 trillion, and EC$32.1
million is due as arrears of debt services on
loans.

Additionally, Government owes the
Commercial Banks EC$8 million in short
term loans, and. there is a debt of EC$41i.6
million due to the National Insurance
Scheme.
Found It Necessary
In describing the country's adverse
financial position, Mr Brizan referred also

"VWe decided that the
mostpracticaland prag- |
matic position which
we could -adopt in the
circumstances," he
said, "Vas to present a
holding Budget with a
deficit of the same size
as the 1989 outturn."

Mr Brian referred to
the EC$250.4 million i
budget presented by the
late Prime Minister MR GEORGE BRIZAN
Herbert Blaize in 1989. ,
The Actual Outturn

That budget, as presented, was higher than
the current 1990 budget, but the Minister
pointed out that, when the actual outturn for
1989 is compared, the 1990 budget. is
EC$76 million more than the actual re-
current revenue and. capital expenses for
1989.

to the fact that, in order
to finance its obligations,
the previous Government
had found it necessary to
sell its controlling inter-
est in Grenada Telecom-
munications Ltd
(GRENTEL) to Cable &
Wireless (WI) Ltd.

The Government's fiscal
strategy to meet this
situation, Mr Brizan said,
is to create a "breathing
space for reforming the
public finances." To
I - -- r> 4 I

uis eri a, a creailors are ti oe approachne
for relief or re-scheduling of obligations in
the case of the public debt.

International _and regional institutions are to
be asked to grant a three-year period for
settlement of outstanding contributions.

It is Mr Brizan's estimate that it will take
three years to "turn this unhealthy situation
aroundd" and one of the strategies to achieve
this is the immediate appointment of a
Consultative Committee.

This Committee will review operation of
Please See BRIZAN Page 5

The Grenada Nevsletter Saturday 24th April 1990 Page 5

$OME DETAIL$

OF THE

BUDGET

HE 1990 NATIONAL BUDGET OF EC$231.6 MILLION, PRERSENT-
ed to the House of Representatives by Minister of Finance, Mr. George Brizan,
on Thursday 19th April, is EC$18.8 million less than the EC$250.4 million
1989 National Budget. '

BRIZAN From Page 4
the existing fiscal regime during the last
three years and make recommendations
for a "fair, efficient, adequate regime,"
which will not include re-introduction of
personal income tax but will be "elastic to
growth."

The 1991 Budget, which will be
presented by December 1990, will reflect
recommendations of the Committee
which have been accepted by Govern-
ment and will mark the start of three-
year fiscal planning.
Tackle The Problem
In a move to tackle the problem of
smuggling through Grenada's sister
island of Carriacou, a committee has
been set up to examine operation of free
ports and design a model best suited to
make Carriacou a free port.

The Minister earned, however, that,
once Carriacou has been declared a free
port, all persons coming from the free
port into Grenada vill have to make cus-
toms declarations.

Closing his address, Mr Brizan likened l-t
an Old Testament Bible story the coming
to power of his National Democratic
Congress Government. In that story, in
a vision, the prophet Ezekiel saw dry
bones miraculously covered with flesh
and sinues and brought back to life.
"Three thousand years ago", Mr Brizan
said, "the prophet Ezekiel must have
written this with Grenada in mind."

According to the Memorandum accompany-
ing the Estimates of Revenue & Expend-
iture, however, this apparent decline must
be understood against the facts of the actual
performance of the 1989 Budget.

Recurrent Revenue is projected to
decline in 1990 by 7.7% from the
1989 figure, the Memorandum says.
This is not a real decline, it contin-
ues, because the 1989 budget in-
correctly includes in Recurrent
Revenue the sum of EC$17.9 million
received for the sale, to Cable &
Wireless (WI) Ltd, of shares in the
Grenada Telephone Company.
Expected To Increase
"In actual fact," the Memorandum says, "the
1990 Recurrent Revenue is expected to
increase by EC$19.0 million or 14.5% over
the real Recurrent Revenue outturn for
1989."

The Ministry of Works, Communications &
Public Utilities has been given the biggest
allocation in the 1990 National Budget.

That Ministry vill spend EC$42.4 million
or 18.3% of the total budget of EC$231.6
million. Of that EC$42.4, Recurrent
Expenditure accounts for EC$14.4 million
while EC$28.0 million vill be devoted to
capital projects.

Main thrust of this Ministry in 1990 is road
construction and maintenance, EC$3.2
million from Local Revenue being allocated
to the Eastern Main Road Project.

That project will receive EC$1.7 from the
European Development Fund while the
Please See BUDGET Page 6

0

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Page 6 Saturday 24th April 1990 The Grenada Nevsletter

BUGDET From Page 5

Western Main Ro-ad Project vill receive
EC$3.4 million from the Caribbean
Development Bank (CDB). CDB is also to
provide EC$0.869 million for feeder road
development.

For general road rehabilitation, the United
States Agency for international Develop-
nent vill provide EC$8.7 million and the
Government of the Republic of China
(Tai an) will provide EC$7 million.

According to the estimates set out in the
Budet, Government expects to raise
EC$150.3 million from local revenue.
Expected Budgetary Aid amounts to
EC$11.2 million, receipts from loans
amount, to EC$44.3 and there vill be
EC$2 5.7 million in grants.
r En